Neil Taylor's callous tackle on Seamus Coleman totally overshadowed the World Cup qualifier at the Aviva last night, and now its shadow has extended over a European Union summit in Rome.
Taoiseach Enda Kenny has felt it necessary to take time out of his diplomatic quest in Rome to give his opinion on the tackle which has left the Irish captain with a double fracture of his right leg.
He is quoted in the Irish Times as saying Taylor's lunge was a "horrific tackle", and bemoaned the debasement of the Beautiful Game.
I thought it was a horrific tackle, a compound fracture, of the Irish captain. It’s a very, very bad blow for Séamus Coleman.
I hope the surgeons can mend that in a way that he can continue to play again, which is obviously a great challenge for him.
It’s not usual to find that level of ferocity in tackles in the beautiful game these days, so good luck to Séamus in his recovery.
While Kenny is usually a GAA man, and is eternally wedded to Mayo's Sisyphean quest for Sam, he has been spotted at the odd football occasion, most notably in helping fellow Catholic leader Giovanni Trapattoni scale Croagh Patrick.
We have previously evaluated Kenny's ability to piggyback on Irish sporting success relative to his predecessors, which you can read here.
